Ona Boeing 717-200 again – still my least favourite type of aircraft,and other's seem to feel the same way as the flight is barely aquarter full... We're en route to Cairns from Darwin, leaving aridiculously hot city – of circa 35 degrees plus 80% humidity to aslightly cooler and less humid city (it'll be 26 degrees at 11pm whenwe land).

Sowe've had 5 days in Darwin and it's been hot. So hot that within afew minutes of being outside, we were covered in sweat – and sincewe booked our hotel in the suburbs of the city – we did a LOT ofwalking into the city centre and surrounding area

Wewere assaulted by hot, humid air as soon as we alighted the aircrafton Tuesday and it took a few moments for my lungs to adjust to thelack of breathable air l– we got a taxi to the hotel with a verygrumpy taxi driver – and found our hotel was nowhere near the towncentre (but within budget). The rest of Tuesday was spentcontemplating how on earth we were gonna exist in the heat, gettingbeers in from the local 'supermarket' (if you can call it that) –and watching football on Fox Sports :-) After our bug experience inAlice Springs, we weren't surprised when we saw the Gecko on theceiling – in fact I was grateful it wasn't a snake or a spider...

OnWednesday we went into town to a place called Crocasaurus Cove andsaw some big adult and juvenile crocs – as well as some ratherlarge snakes (Debs stayed outside for the snake bit...) We fed somejuvenile cros with bits of meat on the end of a fishing line whichwas cool, and watched the keepers feed the larger crocodiles

. Onlylater did we realise that it was actually quite cruel – keepingthem out of their natural habitat in quite small, concrete flooredtanks, and teasing the crocs with food so that tourists could takepictures of them snapping and jumping...

Aftercroc cove we did some shopping on Mitchell and Smith Street – wespent quite a long time in the air conditioned malls – for somerespite to the heat outside. We then walked down to the harbourside,where there is a wave pool and small beach and seaside area which isprotected from the crocs – but we were warned that this was knownas the 'local toilet' so didn't venture in. We found a Nandos and Igot really excited for red pepper dip but was disappointed that theydon't do it over here – strike 2 for Emigration to Oz, - one,Domino’s pizzas are disgusting, two, no red pepper dip

Wewalked for an hour or so to watch the sunset at Mindil beach – butwhen we got there, decided that it wasn't safe as we were some waysfrom home, it was getting dark and the area was busy with Aboriginals– not that there's anything wrong with Aboriginals, but with twoextremely attractive ladies alone in a secluded area in a foreignland – common sense has to win out (well – Debs did, I wanted tostay to watch the sunset).

Whilstin the local Coles supermarket I happened upon a Cadbury's SnackBlock and this little gem cancels out the Dominos and Nandosnegatives. This bar contains different flavoured chocs – caramel,coconut, strawberry, pineapple, turkish delight and orange and issooooo lush

! We ate one bar in a couple of days and I had to go andbuy more as a stash in case the East Coat doesn't have any.

Onthe Thursday we were recommended a restaurant beside the sea so wentthere for lunch and had what has to be the biggest portion of foodwe've ever had – absolutely ridiculous! Well – we paid goodmoney for it so we had to eat it but it was a good hour before eitherof us could move – but we didn't mind, the views of aqua seas,waves lapping at the shore and blue skies made it worthwhile :-) After lunch we walked in what must have been a million degree heat toa 19th century jail called Fannie Bay Gaol – about a 4mile walk – only to find that they shut early – so we had to walkback again – but on the way back found a little gem of a sailingclub which had the most relaxing views over the ocean and spent mostof the afternoon in the pub watching Australia v South Africa testcricket :-)

Oneof the main reasons for visiting Darwin was to visit the LitchfieldNational Park which we did on the Friday – with lovely Maree, thetour guide

. We visited 3 waterfalls, Florence Falls, Tolmer Fallsand Wangi Falls, saw 8 foot Cathedral termite mounds (grass eatingtermites) and some magnetic termite mounds (they face North) and thenvisited Buley Rock Hole. The weather was overcast which meant it wascooler and less humid otherwise I think we may have died –especially on our treks up and down dale to waterfall summits! Itwas a beautiful place, with lots of lovely scenery, natural habitatand wild animals (saw a few wallabies) and was well worth a visit anda highlight of our time in Darwin.

Ourlast full day in Darwin was stormy, with thunder, lightening and hotrain. We made it to Fannie Bay (in opening hours this time) ahead ofthe storm, and saw how prisoners in the 19th & 20thcenturies were kept in disturbing conditions – in small cells withno ventilation – and even saw where some prisoners were hanged, andtheir unmarked graves just outside the 'death row' building

. Whilstat the jail, the storm passed over and we saw some wicked lightening– and decided to postpone our hour walk into the town centre to goback to the sailing club – where we spent a couple of very lovelyhours beside the sea, watching the lightening pass over the citycentre in the distance. This also meant that we were no longerwalking in the hottest part of the day (again) and instead of meltingon the road, had a lovely walk down to the Esplanade which wassimilar to Plymouth – but with much much much better weather...

Todaywe had to check out and get to the airport – but managed to fit inthe new James Bond Skyfall movie – aaahhh, good old James Bond –saving the day again

OverallDarwin was a nice city, the city centre was nicer than thesurrounding suburbs – with Litchfield – and Kakadu National Parkstwo very good reasons to visit the area – I don't think it'ssomewhere we'd return to or want to live – so we're happy to be enroute to Cairns.

Cairnsisn't as hot or humid although it's still tropical – it's not assevere as the Northern Territory – and we have lots of adventuresto do there, we'll be going to Karunda, a small forest community upon the top Tablelands – reaching it by cable car, snorkelling atthe outer reefs (sea sickness be damned), visiting Green and FitzroyIslands – and perhaps what we're most excited about, sunbathing onthe Esplanade, beside the sea water pool and bars with our Kindles! :-) :-) :-)

Wewere supposed to be staying a hostel for our time in Cairns – butdecided that we were far too precious and have booked ourselves in toa deluxe apartment in the centre of town – It turns out we're notbackpackers at all but princesses... How long we can afford to livein luxury I don't know – so we'll enjoy it while it lasts...